Residents are calling for public access to Packsaddle Fields to be restored, following a gathering of more than 200 people and a growing petition.
Somerset Council closed Packsaddle Fields to the public and installed fencing earlier this month. The move came after legal pressure from housing association LiveWest, whose plans to build houses on the site were refused.
Preventing access to the fields, which are on Frome’s northern edge, sparked anger among the community. Around 220 residents, including local councillors, gathered at the fields on Saturday 14th March.
To ‘Stop the Fences’, People for Packsaddle, the residents’ group campaigning to save the green space, are now urging people to sign a petition. They are aiming for 5,000 signatures, which would trigger a formal debate in Somerset Council’s Full Council meeting about the closure. So far, the petition has nearly 1,800 signatures.
People for Packsaddle said, “Since Somerset Council erected fencing around Packsaddle Community Fields, we’ve received nothing but overwhelming support, from our local community, people across Frome and organisations across Somerset. Thank you to our MP Anna Sabine, Somerset Councillors Adam Boyden, Dawn Denton and Martin Dimery, Frome Town Council, CPRE Somerset and the Frome Area Green Party who have all been unequivocal in condemning the actions of the council.
“The strength of feeling about Somerset Council and the LiveWest, the developer, was demonstrated recently, when over 220 people of all ages came to our gathering in the newly fenced off area to hear an update from People For Packsaddle and to make their feelings known.”
Packsaddle Fields has been owned by Somerset Council since 1973. The public had been able to use a permissive path across the land, which was allowed at the council’s discretion rather than being a formal public right of way.
However, Somerset Council said it was required to meet its contractual obligations to LiveWest after it signed an Option Agreement in 2022 giving a developer the right to buy land within a set period if certain conditions are met, usually including securing planning permission.
People for Packsaddle added, “No decisions about these fields, apart from the planning application, have ever been debated at a council meeting or discussed in public. This includes the decision to sell, the decision to enter into an option agreement with a developer without exploration of alternative options, the decision to fence them off.
“Decision after decision about Packsaddle Community Fields has been taken without proper discussion with our Somerset Councillors, Frome Town Council or the community that has cared for and used this space for 50 years. We want to see if we can change that and get this matter debated properly and openly.
“At every hurdle in the fight to save Packsaddle Community Fields, we have prevailed. We gained Asset of Community Value status for the fields, the planning application was refused and we won at Planning Appeal and we will do everything in our power to overcome this latest hurdle.”
Following the closure, a LiveWest spokesperson said, “LiveWest does not own the land at Packsaddle Fields. We continue to work closely with Somerset Council, as landowner, to explore the potential of the site for the development of much-needed affordable housing.”
Details of the petition can be found at https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-fencing-of-packsaddle-fields-in-frome
